Attorneys face deadline in Pitt County school case

Attorneys have reached the deadline to file documents in a case to decide whether Pitt County schools have reached the goal of providing equal education regardless of race.

A group of black parents represented by the UNC Center for Civil Rights are asking a court to reverse a 2011 student assignment plan they say effectively re-segregated several county schools.

Lawyers for the school system want a judge to rule that the district has achieved "unitary status," meaning signs of past discrimination have been eliminated to the "extent practicable." The designation would end federal oversight of the Pitt schools, in place since the 1960s.

The deadline for submitting documents was Friday. The Daily Reflector of Greenville reports there was no immediate indication that the documents had been filed with the court.

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